Electrical connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector is used to electrically connect a chip module to a circuit board, and includes a body for upward supporting the chip module. The body is provided with multiple accommodating holes arranged in multiple rows. Each two adjacent rows of the accommodating holes are staggeredly arranged in a front-rear direction. Multiple terminals are respectively accommodated in the accommodating holes correspondingly. Each two adjacent rows of the terminals intersect to form at least one intersection area. Each terminal includes a base, an upper elastic arm formed by extending upward from the base for upward abutting the chip module, and a lower elastic arm formed by extending downward from the base for being downward conductively connected with the circuit board. When the chip module presses the upper elastic arm downward, the upper and lower elastic arms abut each other, the abutting position is located above or below the intersection area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of, pursuant to 35U.S.C. § 119(e), U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.62/445,396, filed Jan. 12, 2017. This application also claims priorityto and benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), Patent Application No.201710654596.0 filed in P.R. China on Aug. 3, 2017. The entire contentsof the above-identified applications are incorporated herein in theirentireties by reference.

Some references, which may include patents, patent applications andvarious publications, are cited and discussed in the description of thisdisclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references isprovided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure andis not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to thedisclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in thisspecification are incorporated herein by reference in their entiretiesand to the same extent as if each reference were individuallyincorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and inparticular to an electrical connector for electrically connecting a chipmodule to a circuit board.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

The Chinese patent CN200720125631.1 discloses an electrical connector,which includes an insulating body provided with a plurality of terminalaccommodating grooves, and a plurality of conductive terminalsaccommodated in the terminal accommodating grooves. The terminalaccommodating grooves are arranged inmultiple rows, and each twoadjacent rows of the terminal accommodating grooves are arranged rightopposite to each other in a front-rear direction. Each conductiveterminal includes a base retained in the corresponding terminalaccommodating groove and a pair of elastic arms obliquely extendingupward from the top and bottom of the base respectively. Acantilever-shaped rib portion extends from the middle of each elasticarm. When the elastic arms are completely pressed down by a chip module,the two rib portions contact each other, so as to provide a shortelectrical path between the chip module and a printed circuit board.

However, the electrical connector at least has the followingdisadvantage. Since the terminal accommodating grooves are arranged inmultiple rows and each two adjacent rows of the terminal accommodatinggrooves are arranged opposite to each other in the front-rear direction,each two adjacent rows of the conductive terminals almost completelycoincide in the front-rear direction, causing inevitable crosstalkbetween two adjacent rows of conductive terminals. As a result, thesignal transmission quality of the electrical connector is reduced, andthe electrical connector cannot provide faster and stable signaltransmission, thus causing a usage bottleneck of the electricalconnector.

Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need to design a novel electricalconnector exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficienciesand inadequacies.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to provide an electricalconnector capable of avoiding crosstalk between terminals and reducingthe impedance of the terminals.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention adopts thefollowing technical solutions:

an electrical connector, configured to electrically connect a chipmodule to a circuit board, including: a body, configured to upwardsupport the chip module, wherein the body is provided with a pluralityof accommodating holes arranged in a plurality of rows, and each twoadjacent rows of the accommodating holes are staggeredly arranged in afront-rear direction; and a plurality of terminals, respectivelyaccommodated in the accommodating holes correspondingly, where for eachtwo adjacent rows, one terminal in one of the two adjacent rows of theterminals intersects with a corresponding one terminal in the other oneof the two adjacent rows of the terminals in a left-right direction toform an intersection area, and each of the terminals comprising a base,an upper elastic arm formed by extending upward from the base andconfigured to upward abut the chip module, and a lower elastic armformed by extending downward from the base and configured to be downwardconductively connected with the circuit board; wherein when the chipmodule presses the upper elastic arm downward, the upper elastic arm andthe lower elastic arm abut each other at an abutting position locatedabove or below the intersection area.

In certain embodiments, one of the terminals respectively intersectswith two adjacent terminals in an adjacent row so as to form twointersection areas.

In certain embodiments, each of the terminals further comprises oneremaining area excluding the intersection area, wherein the remainingarea is larger than the intersection area.

In certain embodiments, the upper elastic arm comprises an upperextending portion extending upward obliquely from the base, an uppercontact portion bending and extending upward from the upper extendingportion and configured to upward abut against the chip module, and anupper abutting portion extending downward obliquely from the uppercontact portion; and the lower elastic arm comprises a lower extendingportion extending downward obliquely from the base, a lower contactportion bending and extending downward from the lower extending portionand configured to be downward conductively connected with the circuitboard, a connecting portion bending and extending upward from the lowercontact portion, and a lower abutting portion extending upwards from theconnecting portion, wherein the upper abutting portion and the lowerabutting portion abut each other at the abutting position, and theabutting position is located above the intersection area.

In certain embodiments, the base of each of the terminals intersectswith the connecting portion of the terminal in an adjacent row to formthe intersection area.

In certain embodiments, the connecting portion is located at a left sideof the base, and comprises a first portion bending and extending fromthe lower contact portion to an upper right direction, and a secondportion bending and extending from the first portion to an upper leftdirection and connected with the lower abutting portion; wherein theupper extending portion bends and extends from the base to the upperleft direction, and the lower extending portion bends and extends fromthe base to a lower left direction.

In certain embodiments, an included angle between the first portion andthe second portion is greater than an included angle between the upperextending portion and the lower extending portion.

In certain embodiments, the upper abutting portion is parallel to thelower abutting portion, and an outer surface of the upper abuttingportion abuts an inner surface of the lower abutting portion.

In certain embodiments, a strip connecting portion is formed byextending upward from the lower abutting portion and configured to beconnected to a strip, wherein a gap is provided between the stripconnecting portion and the upper elastic arm, each of the accommodatingholes has a vertical surface and an oblique surface extending upwardobliquely from a top end of the vertical surface; the oblique surfaceand the strip connecting portion are provided opposite to each other,and the strip connecting portion is located higher than the top end ofthe vertical surface and lower than a top end of the oblique surface.

In certain embodiments, a partition wall is provided between twoadjacent accommodating holes in a same row, and the base and theconnecting portion of one of the terminals in an adjacent row arelocated on two opposite sides of the partition wall.

Compared with the related art, the electrical connector according tocertain embodiments of the present invention has the followingbeneficial effect.

In the present invention, each two adjacent rows of the accommodatingholes are arranged staggeredly in a front-rear direction, so that foreach two adjacent rows of terminals, one terminal in one of the twoadjacent rows of the terminals intersects with a corresponding oneterminal in the other one of the two adjacent rows of the terminals inthe left-right direction to form the intersection areas. When the chipmodule presses each upper elastic arm downward, the upper elastic armabuts the corresponding lower elastic arm, and multiple conductive pathsof each terminal can be formed so as to reduce the impedance of theterminal. Further, the abutting position is located above or below theintersection area, thereby reducing the size of each intersection area,effectively reducing the crosstalk effect between each two adjacent rowsof the terminals, and improving the signal transmission quality of theelectrical connector, so that the electrical connector can be used fortransmitting signals at a higher rate.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of the preferred embodiment taken inconjunction with the following drawings, although variations andmodifications therein may be effected without departing from the spiritand scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate one or more embodiments of thedisclosure and together with the written description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or likeelements of an embodiment, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to afirst embodiment of the present invention before a chip module ispressed downwards;

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 along an A-A direction;

FIG. 4 is a plan view obtained after the chip module is presseddownwards in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a part a in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an electrical connector according to a secondembodiment of the present invention after a chip module is presseddownwards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is more particularly described in the followingexamples that are intended as illustrative only since numerousmodifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilledin the art. Various embodiments of the invention are now described indetail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like componentsthroughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughoutthe claims that follow, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includesplural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, asused in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow,the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. Moreover, titles or subtitles may be used in thespecification for the convenience of a reader, which shall have noinfluence on the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”another element, it can be directly on the other element or interveningelements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element isreferred to as being “directly on” another element, there are nointervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includesany and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or“top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship toanother element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understoodthat relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations ofthe device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. Forexample, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elementsdescribed as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then beoriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term“lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and“upper,” depending of the particular orientation of the figure.Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elementsdescribed as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented“above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath”can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.

As used herein, “around”, “about” or “approximately” shall generallymean within 20 percent, preferably within 10 percent, and morepreferably within 5 percent of a given value or range. Numericalquantities given herein are approximate, meaning that the term “around”,“about” or “approximately” can be inferred if not expressly stated.

As used herein, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”,“having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understoodto be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to.

The description will be made as to the embodiments of the presentinvention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in FIGS. 1-6. Inaccordance with the purposes of this invention, as embodied and broadlydescribed herein, this invention, in one aspect, relates to anelectrical connector.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show an electrical connector 100 according to a firstembodiment of the present invention. The electrical connector 100 isconfigured to electrically connect a chip module 3 to a circuit board 4,and includes a body 1 configured to upward support the chip module 3,and multiple terminals 2 accommodated in the body 1.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the body 1 is provided with multipleaccommodating holes 11 which run through the body 1 in a verticaldirection. The accommodating holes 11 are arranged in multiple rows, andeach two adjacent rows of accommodating holes 11 are staggeredlyarranged in a front-rear direction. A partition wall 12 is providedbetween two adjacent accommodating holes 11 in a same row, and eachaccommodating hole 11 is provided with a vertical surface 111 and anoblique surface 112 extending upward obliquely from a top end of thevertical surface 111 (also referring to FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the terminals 2 are accommodated in theaccommodating holes 11 correspondingly. For each two adjacent rows ofthe terminals 2, one terminal 2 in one of the two adjacent rows of theterminals 2 intersects with a corresponding one terminal 2 in the otherone of the two adjacent rows of the terminals 2 in a left-rightdirection to form an intersection area S, and one terminal 2 canintersect with two adjacent terminals 2 in an adjacent row so as to formtwo intersection areas S.

Each terminal 2 is formed by bending a sheet metal integrally, andincludes a base 21, an upper elastic arm 22 formed by extending upwardfrom the base 21 and configured to upward abut the chip module 3, and alower elastic arm 23 formed by extending downward from the base 21 andconfigured to be downward conductively connected with the circuit board4.

The upper elastic arm 22 includes an upper extending portion 221 formedby bending and extending from the base 21 to an upper left direction, anupper contact portion 222 formed by bending and extending from the upperextending portion 221 to the upper left direction, and an upper abuttingportion 223 formed by extending from the upper contact portion 222 to alower right direction.

The lower elastic arm 23 includes a lower extending portion 231 formedby bending and extending from the base 21 to a lower left direction, alower contact portion 232 formed by extending from the lower extendingportion 231 to the lower left direction, a connecting portion 233 formedby firstly bending from the lower contact portion 232 to the upper rightdirection and then bending and extending to the upper left direction, alower abutting portion 234 formed by extending from the connectingportion 233 to the upper left direction, and a strip connecting portion235 formed by extending from the lower abutting portion 234 to the upperleft direction.

The strip connecting portion 235 is configured to be connected with astrip 5. A gap is provided between the strip connecting portion 235 andthe corresponding upper elastic arm 22. The oblique surface 112 and thecorresponding strip connecting portion 235 are provided opposite to eachother, and the strip connecting portion 235 is located higher than a topend of the corresponding vertical surface 111 and lower than a top endof the corresponding oblique surface 112 (also referring to FIG. 5), sothat the strip 5 can be broken easily, and short-circuiting orscratching of the chip module 3 caused by abutting connection of thestrip connecting portion 235 and the chip module 3 can be avoided.

The connecting portion 233 is located at a left side of the base 21, andincludes a first portion 2331 bending and extending from thecorresponding lower contact portion 232 to the upper right direction,and a second portion 2332 bending and extending from the first portion2331 to the upper left direction and connected with the correspondinglower abutting portion 234. The second portion 2332, the correspondinglower abutting portion 234 and the corresponding strip connectingportion 235 are located on a same line. An included angle α between thefirst portion 2331 and the corresponding second portion 2332 is greaterthan an included angle β between the upper extending portion 221 and thecorresponding lower extending portion 231.

For each of the terminals 2 in the same row, the base 21 and theconnecting portion 233 thereof are located at two opposite sides of oneof the partition walls 12 in the adjacent row, so that the terminals 2are distributed more compactly, and the space of the body 1 can be fullyutilized to arrange the terminals 2.

The base 21 of each terminal 2 intersects with the connecting portion233 of the terminal 2 in the adjacent row to form the correspondingintersection area S. The base 21 and the connecting portion 233 of oneterminal 2 can intersect with the connecting portion 233 and the base 21of the terminals 2 in the adjacent row so as to form two intersectionareas S.

Each terminal 2 further includes a remaining area E excluding theintersection areas S. The remaining area E is larger than theintersection areas S, so that the size of the intersection areas S isfurther reduced and the crosstalk effect between two adjacent rows ofterminals 2 can be effectively reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, when the electrical connector 100connects the chip module 3 and the circuit board 4, the upper contactportion 222 and the lower contact portion 232 of each terminal 2 makecompressed contact with the chip module 3 and the circuit board 4respectively, so as to achieve the electrical connection of the chipmodule 3 and the circuit board 4 (or alternatively, a solderingconnection with the circuit board 4).

When a downward pressing force is applied to the chip module 3, theupper contact portion 222 moves downward and drives the correspondingupper abutting portion 223 to move downward, making an outer surface ofthe upper abutting portion 223 abut an inner surface of thecorresponding lower abutting portion 234, and the upper abutting portion223 is parallel to the corresponding lower abutting portion 234. Inother embodiments, before the chip module 3 is pressed downward, theupper abutting portion 223 and the lower abutting portion 234 can alsostay in contact.

In this way, a first conductive path sequentially passing through thechip module 3, the upper contact portion 222, the upper extendingportion 221, the base 21, the lower extending portion 231, the lowercontact portion 232 and the circuit board 4 is formed between the chipmodule 3 and the circuit board 4, and a second conductive pathsequentially passing through the chip module 3, the upper contactportion 222, the upper abutting portion 223, the lower abutting portion234, the connecting portion 233, the lower contact portion 232 and thecircuit board 4 is also formed. The second conductive path and the firstconductive path are formed in parallel, so as to reduce impedance duringsignal transmission. Furthermore, the abutting position P of the upperabutting portion 223 and the lower abutting portion 234 is located abovethe corresponding intersection area S, so that the crosstalk effectbetween two adjacent rows of terminals 2 can be effectively reduced.

FIG. 6 shows an electrical connector 100 according to a secondembodiment of the present invention, which is different from the firstembodiment in that, in the second embodiment, the abutting position P ofthe upper abutting portion 223 and the corresponding lower abuttingportion 234 is located below the corresponding intersection area S torealize the same effect as the first embodiment. Thus, the detaileddescription thereof is not elaborated herein.

To sum up, the electrical connector according to certain embodiments ofthe present invention has the following beneficial effects.

(1) Each two adjacent rows of accommodating holes 11 are staggeredlyarranged in a front-back direction, so that for each two adjacent rowsof the terminals 2, one terminal 2 in one of the two adjacent rows ofthe terminals 2 intersects with a corresponding one terminal 2 in theother one of the two adjacent rows of the terminals 2 in the left-rightdirection to form the intersection area S. When the chip module 3presses each upper elastic arm 22 downward, the upper elastic arm 22abuts the corresponding lower elastic arm 23, and multiple conductivepaths of each terminal 2 can be formed so as to reduce the impedance ofthe terminal 2. Further, the abutting position P is located above orbelow the corresponding intersection area S, thereby reducing the sizeof each intersection area S, effectively reducing the crosstalk effectbetween each two adjacent rows of terminals 2, and improving the signaltransmission quality of the electrical connector 100, so that theelectrical connector 100 can be used for transmitting signals at ahigher rate.

(2) The remaining area E is larger than the intersection area S, so thatthe size of the intersection area S is further reduced and the crosstalkeffect between two adjacent rows of terminals 2 can be effectivelyreduced.

(3) strip connecting portion 235 is located higher than a top end of thecorresponding vertical surface 111 and lower than a top end of thecorresponding oblique surface 112, so that the strip 5 can be brokeneasily, and short-circuiting or scratching of the chip module 3 causedby abutting connection of the strip connecting portion 235 and the chipmodule 3 can be avoided.

(4) For each of the terminals 2 in the same row, the base 21 and theconnecting portion 233 thereof are located at two opposite sides of oneof the partition walls 12 in the adjacent row, so that the terminals 2are distributed more compactly, and the space of the body 1 can be fullyutilized to arrange the terminals 2.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the inventionhas been presented only for the purposes of illustration and descriptionand is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain theprinciples of the invention and their practical application so as toactivate others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art to which the present inventionpertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, thescope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims ratherthan the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments describedtherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical connector, configured toelectrically connect a chip module to a circuit board, comprising: abody, configured to upward support the chip module, wherein the body isprovided with a plurality of accommodating holes arranged in a pluralityof rows, and each two adjacent rows of the accommodating holes arestaggeredly arranged in a front-rear direction; and a plurality ofterminals, respectively accommodated in the accommodating holescorrespondingly, wherein for each two adjacent rows of terminals, oneterminal in one of the two adjacent rows of the terminals intersectswith a corresponding one terminal in the other one of the two adjacentrows of the terminals in a left-right direction to form an intersectionarea, and each of the terminals comprises a base, an upper elastic armformed by extending upward from the base and configured to upward abutthe chip module, and a lower elastic arm formed by extending downwardfrom the base and configured to be downward conductively connected withthe circuit board; wherein when the chip module presses the upperelastic arm downward, the upper elastic arm and the lower elastic armabut each other at an abutting position located above or below theintersection area.
 2. The electrical connector according to claim 1,wherein one of the terminals respectively intersects with two adjacentterminals in an adjacent row so as to form two intersection areas. 3.The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein each of theterminals further comprises one remaining area excluding theintersection area, wherein the remaining area is larger than theintersection area.
 4. The electrical connector according to claim 1,wherein: the upper elastic arm comprises an upper extending portionextending upward obliquely from the base, an upper contact portionbending and extending upward from the upper extending portion andconfigured to upward abut against the chip module, and an upper abuttingportion extending downward obliquely from the upper contact portion; andthe lower elastic arm comprises a lower extending portion extendingdownward obliquely from the base, a lower contact portion bending andextending downward from the lower extending portion and configured to bedownward conductively connected with the circuit board, a connectingportion bending and extending upward from the lower contact portion, anda lower abutting portion extending upwards from the connecting portion,wherein the upper abutting portion and the lower abutting portion abuteach other at the abutting position, and the abutting position islocated above the intersection area.
 5. The electrical connectoraccording to claim 4, wherein the base of each of the terminalsintersects with the connecting portion of the terminal in an adjacentrow to form the intersection area.
 6. The electrical connector accordingto claim 4, wherein the connecting portion is located at a left side ofthe base, and comprises a first portion bending and extending from thelower contact portion to an upper right direction, and a second portionbending and extending from the first portion to an upper left directionand connected with the lower abutting portion; wherein the upperextending portion bends and extends from the base to the upper leftdirection, and the lower extending portion bends and extends from thebase to a lower left direction.
 7. The electrical connector according toclaim 6, wherein an included angle between the first portion and thesecond portion is greater than an included angle between the upperextending portion and the lower extending portion.
 8. The electricalconnector according to claim 4, wherein the upper abutting portion isparallel to the lower abutting portion, and an outer surface of theupper abutting portion abuts an inner surface of the lower abuttingportion.
 9. The electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein astrip connecting portion is formed by extending upward from the lowerabutting portion and configured to be connected to a strip, wherein agap is provided between the strip connecting portion and the upperelastic arm, each of the accommodating holes has a vertical surface andan oblique surface extending upward obliquely from a top end of thevertical surface; the oblique surface and the strip connecting portionare provided opposite to each other, and the strip connecting portion islocated higher than the top end of the vertical surface and lower than atop end of the oblique surface.
 10. The electrical connector accordingto claim 4, wherein a partition wall is provided between two adjacentaccommodating holes in a same row, and the base and the connectingportion of one of the terminals in an adjacent row are located on twoopposite sides of the partition wall.